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Interspecific differences in foraging behaviour and functional role of Caribbean parrotfish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Sónia C. Cardoso ,
Marta C. Soares ,
Hazel A. Oxenford  and
Isabelle M. Côté
Sónia C. Cardoso*
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149–041, Lisboa, Portugal
Marta C. Soares
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149–041, Lisboa, Portugal Université de Neuchâtel, Institut de Zoologie, Eco-Ethologie, Rue Émile-Argand 11, 2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Hazel A. Oxenford
Affiliation:
Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
Isabelle M. Côté
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S.C. Cardoso, Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal email: scardoso@ispa.pt
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Abstract

Herbivory is one of the most important biological processes influencing coral reefs. In the highly diverse Indo-Pacific reef fish communities, different herbivores can have strikingly different functions. We investigated the extent of functional diversity among herbivorous parrotfish of the more species-depauperate Caribbean Sea. We carried out observations of seven species of parrotfish (Scarus taeniopterus, Sc. vetula, Sc. iserti, Sparisoma viride, Sp. aurofrenatum, Sp. rubripinne and Sp. chrysopterum) on four Barbadian coral reefs to collect information on foraging techniques, rates, and targets, and found marked interspecific variation. Species of the genus Scarus had higher foraging rates than those of the genus Sparisoma. Different species took varying amounts of live coral, turf algae and macroalgae. A functional categorization based first on foraging technique (contact or no contact with the substratum) and secondarily on the more conventional criterion of foraging target (macroalgae, turf algae and live coral) allowed us to classify Sc. taeniopterus and Sc. iserti as ‘scrapers’, Sp. aurofrenatum, Sp. rubripinne and Sp. chrysopterum as ‘grazers’, Sp. viride as a ‘bioeroder’ and Sc. vetula as a ‘bioeroder/scraper’. This functional group affiliation, together with species-specific foraging rates, allows us to predict the role of Caribbean parrotfish on major coral reef processes and their impact on coral reef benthic communities.

Keywords

herbivoryScaridaebite rateforaging targetsfunctional groupsCaribbean parrotfish
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e148
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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